Democracy Now!
"Veteran foreign correspondent Patrick Cockburn of the Independent joins us to discuss the Obama administration’s decision to begin directly arming Syrian rebels after concluding the regime of President Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons. “There must be some doubts about this,” Cockburn says, adding that it “reminds me of what they were saying in 2002 and 2003 about Saddam [Hussein]’s weapons of mass destruction. Cockburn warns U.S. involvement could escalate regional conflicts that could “go on for years,” and critiques the media’s lack of skepticism about White House claims....."
Friday, June 14, 2013
Real News Video: US Arming Syrian Rebels Likely to Inflame Already Bloody Conflict
Phyllis Bennis: Military resolution impossible in Syria, Americans should demand a negotiated settlement
COMMENT:
I disagree with Phyllis on this issue. It is impossible to negotiate with a bloody regime which uses such unprecedented brutality against its own people. How can you negotiate with a butcher whose slogan is, "Assad or we will burn the country!"
COMMENT:
I disagree with Phyllis on this issue. It is impossible to negotiate with a bloody regime which uses such unprecedented brutality against its own people. How can you negotiate with a butcher whose slogan is, "Assad or we will burn the country!"
Obama's Monica moment
By M K Bhadrakumar
Asia Times
".........All in all, Obama's momentous decision on military intervention in Syria, which could well launch a new Cold War, is a desperate diversionary move when his administration is caught up deep in the cesspool over the Snowden controversy.
The entire moral edifice on which Obama built up his presidency and the values he espoused at the core of his "audacity of hope" when he began his long march to the White House five years ago - transparency, accountability, legitimacy, multilateralism, consensus - lie exposed today as a pack of lies.
The heart of the matter is that Obama is on the horns of the same dilemma as Bill Clinton found himself when, in a desperate ploy to deflect world attention from his strong libido, he fired cruise missiles at Kandahar in August 1998. ....."
Asia Times
".........All in all, Obama's momentous decision on military intervention in Syria, which could well launch a new Cold War, is a desperate diversionary move when his administration is caught up deep in the cesspool over the Snowden controversy.
The entire moral edifice on which Obama built up his presidency and the values he espoused at the core of his "audacity of hope" when he began his long march to the White House five years ago - transparency, accountability, legitimacy, multilateralism, consensus - lie exposed today as a pack of lies.
The heart of the matter is that Obama is on the horns of the same dilemma as Bill Clinton found himself when, in a desperate ploy to deflect world attention from his strong libido, he fired cruise missiles at Kandahar in August 1998. ....."
U.S. considering no-fly zone after Syria crosses nerve gas "red line"
"(Reuters) - The United States is considering imposing a no-fly zone in Syria, its first direct military intervention of the two-year-old civil war, Western diplomats said on Friday, after the White House said Syria had crossed a "red line" by using nerve gas.
After months of equivocating, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Two senior Western diplomats said Washington is mulling a no-fly zone close to Syria's southern border with Jordan.
"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said. He said it would be limited "time-wise and area-wise, possibly near the Jordanian border", without giving details.
Imposing a no-fly zone would require the United States to destroy Syria's air defenses, entering the two-year-old civil war with the sort of action that NATO used to help topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya two years ago.
The area near the Jordanian border contains some of the most densely-populated parts of Syria, including the outskirts of the capital Damascus.
Washington has moved Patriot surface-to-air missiles, war planes and more than 4,000 troops into Jordan in the past week, officially as part of an annual exercise but making clear that the forces deployed could stay on when the war games are over......
Assad's main advantage so far has been the ability to use air power to resupply troops and bomb rebel areas, along with its use of long-range missiles. But Western support or a no-fly zone would change the current balance of power."
After months of equivocating, President Barack Obama's administration said on Thursday it would now arm rebels, having obtained proof the Syrian government used chemical weapons against fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.
Two senior Western diplomats said Washington is mulling a no-fly zone close to Syria's southern border with Jordan.
"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said. He said it would be limited "time-wise and area-wise, possibly near the Jordanian border", without giving details.
Imposing a no-fly zone would require the United States to destroy Syria's air defenses, entering the two-year-old civil war with the sort of action that NATO used to help topple Muammar Gaddafi in Libya two years ago.
The area near the Jordanian border contains some of the most densely-populated parts of Syria, including the outskirts of the capital Damascus.
Washington has moved Patriot surface-to-air missiles, war planes and more than 4,000 troops into Jordan in the past week, officially as part of an annual exercise but making clear that the forces deployed could stay on when the war games are over......
Assad's main advantage so far has been the ability to use air power to resupply troops and bomb rebel areas, along with its use of long-range missiles. But Western support or a no-fly zone would change the current balance of power."
U.S. studying Syria no-fly zone near Jordan border: diplomats
"(Reuters) - The United States is studying setting up a limited no-fly zone in Syria close to the southern border with Jordan, two senior Western diplomats in Turkey said on Friday.
Their comments, confirmed by a third regional diplomat, came after Washington said it would step up military assistance to rebels battling President Bashar al-Assad in response to what it said was proof of chemical weapons use by Assad's forces.
"Washington is considering a no-fly zone to help Assad's opponents," one diplomat said. He said it would be limited "time-wise and area-wise, possibly near the Jordanian border", without giving details.
Syrian rebel commanders were due to meet Western and Turkish officials in Turkey on Friday to discuss military assistance to the rebels. Until now Washington has been deeply reluctant to send weapons, citing a risk that they would end up in the hands of radical Sunni Muslim brigades.
One of the diplomats said that setting up a no-fly zone might help Western efforts to monitor the recipients of any arms supplies, as well as helping train the anti-Assad fighters."
بوتين: البديل لنظام الأسد هو الفوضى وحكم راديكالي متطرف
الرئيس الروسي يتحدث خلال زيارته لمتحف يهودي في موسكو
تل أبيب- (يو بي اي): قال الرئيس الروسي فلاديمير بوتين لصحيفة إسرائيلية تصدرها حركة (حباد) اليهودية إنه لا ينبغي على إسرائيل أن تقلق من بقاء نظام الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد وأن البديل لهذا النظام هو الفوضى وحكم راديكالي متطرف.
ونقلت صحيفة (هَموديّاع)، التي تصدر في القدس الغربية، الجمعة عن بوتين قوله خلال زيارة لمتحف يهودي في موسكو الخميس، إن “البديل لنظام الأسد هو الفوضى التي ستسود في المنطقة وهذا أمر ليس جيدا لإسرائيل ولا للعالم”.
وأضاف بوتين، الذي قالت الصحيفة أنه تحدث إلى موفدها إلى موسكو، أن “الأفضل لإسرائيل أن يكون لديها عنوانا في الشمال من أن تسود حالة فوضى وانتقال الحكم إلى راديكاليين متطرفين”.
وفي رده على سؤال حول قلق إسرائيل من تزويد روسيا صواريخ (اس-300) لسوريا، قال بوتين إنه “لا مكان لقلق مواطني إسرائيل” حيال ذلك وأنه مؤمن بأن “الاستقرار سيعود إلى الحدود الشمالية (لإسرائيل) وسيعود الوضع إلى ما كان عليه في الماضي”.
وعبرت إسرائيل عن تخوفها من وصول صواريخ “اس 300″ الروسية المتطورة المضادة للطائرات إلى سوريا، وهدد رئيس مجلس الأمن القومي الإسرائيلي يعقوب عميدرور بأن إسرائيل ستضربها لدى وصولها إلى سوريا وقبل أن تصبح فاعلة.
Thursday, June 13, 2013
Syria: Obama's red line has been crossed – it's time to act
It is still unclear whether the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime will lead to a significant shift in policy
Ian Black, Middle East editor
The Guardian,
News that the administration is to increase its "non-lethal assistance" to Syria's civilian opposition is simply more of the same in terms of what the US, UK and France have already been doing for months as Assad's forces have gained the upper hand on the ground......
In addition to the rising human cost of the war, there is mounting international alarm at the instability and violence now affecting all of Syria's neighbours. The increasingly open role of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah is a factor of grave concern. Its fighters helped Syrian forces win back the town of Qusair near Homs last week and they may be in action again in a looming offensive against rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
US and western policy, meanwhile, still looks as cautious and stumbling as it has been at any time since the Syrian tragedy began."
Ian Black, Middle East editor
The Guardian,
It has taken a long time for the US to confirm that Barack Obama's famous "red line" in Syria has in fact been crossed – but it is still unclear whether the use of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime will lead to a significant shift in American and western policy.
News that the administration is to increase its "non-lethal assistance" to Syria's civilian opposition is simply more of the same in terms of what the US, UK and France have already been doing for months as Assad's forces have gained the upper hand on the ground......
In addition to the rising human cost of the war, there is mounting international alarm at the instability and violence now affecting all of Syria's neighbours. The increasingly open role of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah is a factor of grave concern. Its fighters helped Syrian forces win back the town of Qusair near Homs last week and they may be in action again in a looming offensive against rebel-held parts of Aleppo.
US and western policy, meanwhile, still looks as cautious and stumbling as it has been at any time since the Syrian tragedy began."
Syria's Assad Used Chemical Weapons Against Rebels, U.S. Officials Conclude
The Huffington Post
"U.S. officials have concluded that the Syrian regime of president Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel fighters, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Congressional sources told CNN that investigators concluded that Syria has used chemical weapons multiple times.
In a statement released on Thursday, the White House says U.S. intelligence concluded that the Assad regime used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent Sarin, against rebel fighters in the last year.
The statement continues:
"Our intelligence community now has a high confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime in Syria. The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has," the statement says.
National Security Council deputy advisor Ben Rhodes said on Thursday that the President Obama reached a decision on what the new support for the Syrian opposition would look like. According to Buzzfeed, Rhodes said: “The president has made a decision ”about what kind of additional support will be provided to the rebels. It will be “direct support to the SMC [Supreme Military Command] that includes military support.” Rhodes added that no decision has been made on the institution of a no-fly zone."
"U.S. officials have concluded that the Syrian regime of president Bashar al-Assad has used chemical weapons against rebel fighters, the New York Times reported on Thursday.
Congressional sources told CNN that investigators concluded that Syria has used chemical weapons multiple times.
In a statement released on Thursday, the White House says U.S. intelligence concluded that the Assad regime used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent Sarin, against rebel fighters in the last year.
The statement continues:
Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information. The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete. While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades. We believe that the Assad regime maintains control of these weapons. We have no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons.The White House reiterates that President Obama has designated the use of chemical weapons as a red line and that the U.S. will increase its assistance to the opposition.
"Our intelligence community now has a high confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime in Syria. The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has," the statement says.
National Security Council deputy advisor Ben Rhodes said on Thursday that the President Obama reached a decision on what the new support for the Syrian opposition would look like. According to Buzzfeed, Rhodes said: “The president has made a decision ”about what kind of additional support will be provided to the rebels. It will be “direct support to the SMC [Supreme Military Command] that includes military support.” Rhodes added that no decision has been made on the institution of a no-fly zone."
Bill Clinton: Obama Risks Looking Like A 'Wuss,' 'A Total Fool' If He Doesn't Act On Syria
The Huffington Post
"Former President Bill Clinton offered a stinging critique of President Barack Obama's inaction in Syria during a closed-press event this week, Politico reported, arguing that Obama's hesitance to get involved in the lengthy conflict could end up making him look like a "total fool" and a "wuss."
While only 15 percent of Americans said they'd back military action in Syria, according to a recent poll, Clinton spoke Tuesday during a question-and-answer session alongside Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and suggested that such support among the American public or Congress shouldn't have any bearing on Obama's decision.
Clinton warned that it would be unwise to opt against action because “there was a poll in the morning paper that said 80 percent of you were against it."
"[Y]ou’d look like a total wuss,” he continued. “And you would be. I don’t mean that a leader should go out of his way or her way to do the unpopular thing, I simply mean when people are telling you ‘no’ in these situations, very often what they’re doing is flashing a giant yellow light and saying, ‘For God’s sakes, be careful, tell us what you’re doing, think this through, be careful.”
Clinton went on to say that a poll showing a lack of support wouldn't provide cover for Obama if things got worse down the road. The president would just be left looking "like a total fool," he said.
McCain, for his part, has been perhaps the most persistent and outspoken proponent of U.S. intervention in Syria. The senator visited the wartorn nation last month to meet with rebel leaders. He's since made aggressive calls for the U.S. to provide the rebels with heavy weaponry to aid in their battle against Syrian President Bashar Assad..........
In their joint appearance Tuesday, Clinton said he agreed with McCain's insistence that the U.S. get involved in the fight, saying he didn't "think Syria is necessarily Iraq or Afghanistan."......"
"Former President Bill Clinton offered a stinging critique of President Barack Obama's inaction in Syria during a closed-press event this week, Politico reported, arguing that Obama's hesitance to get involved in the lengthy conflict could end up making him look like a "total fool" and a "wuss."
While only 15 percent of Americans said they'd back military action in Syria, according to a recent poll, Clinton spoke Tuesday during a question-and-answer session alongside Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and suggested that such support among the American public or Congress shouldn't have any bearing on Obama's decision.
Clinton warned that it would be unwise to opt against action because “there was a poll in the morning paper that said 80 percent of you were against it."
"[Y]ou’d look like a total wuss,” he continued. “And you would be. I don’t mean that a leader should go out of his way or her way to do the unpopular thing, I simply mean when people are telling you ‘no’ in these situations, very often what they’re doing is flashing a giant yellow light and saying, ‘For God’s sakes, be careful, tell us what you’re doing, think this through, be careful.”
Clinton went on to say that a poll showing a lack of support wouldn't provide cover for Obama if things got worse down the road. The president would just be left looking "like a total fool," he said.
McCain, for his part, has been perhaps the most persistent and outspoken proponent of U.S. intervention in Syria. The senator visited the wartorn nation last month to meet with rebel leaders. He's since made aggressive calls for the U.S. to provide the rebels with heavy weaponry to aid in their battle against Syrian President Bashar Assad..........
In their joint appearance Tuesday, Clinton said he agreed with McCain's insistence that the U.S. get involved in the fight, saying he didn't "think Syria is necessarily Iraq or Afghanistan."......"
Al-Jazeera Video: Rebels target Damascus airport
"Mortar shells have been fired at Damascus airport in the latest clashes in Syria.The UN has told Al Jazeera that a third of Syria's population is now displaced either inside the country or across the border.Al Jazeera's Osama Bin Javaid reports on the latest fighting."
Betrayal in Syria
War-torn Syria risks its future being constructed around sectarian divisions rather than democratic principles.
GOOD ANALYSIS
By Marwan Bishara
Al-Jazeera
"You've listened. You've watched. You've witnessed the worst crime of the 21st century thus far.
A people bombed, murdered, purged, tortured, imprisoned and humiliated. The world watches from the sidelines, as a whole society is destroyed and tens of thousands of its finest people killed for daring to demand a life of dignity. Clearly, "never again" is never really NEVER again. The atrocities in Syria continue - again and again. It's the ultimate complicity of silence.
The so-called international community's commitment to the doctrine of R2P, or "responsbility to protect", is more of a "right to peddle" unfulfilled promises. Alas, when it comes to Syria, Iraq and Palestine, the international community has proven to be neither international nor a community.
Syria's four-decade-long dictatorship run amok has been permitted to slaughter its own citizens, wreak havoc in its country and forever stain the nation's history in blood.
What began as largely peaceful protests against regime repression was soon turned by the regime into an open battlefield throughout the country as the opposition became armed and extremists joined the fight.
But the state's belligerence has been to no avail: no force could deter the people or crush an idea whose time has come. Despite the excessive use of air-power against cities and the shelling of civilians, the Bashar al-Assad regime failed to quell the revolution or break its fighting spirit........
The bottom line
Assad might continue to make tactical advances, but he will never again be able to legitimise his dictatorship. Winning the battles is nothing like winning the war, let alone defeating the people's quest for freedom from repression. Nobody in their right mind could imagine that Assad would ever rule Syria again, regardless of the military victories.
Paradoxically, the more battles the regime wins using excessive violence, the more detested and less legitimate it becomes in the eyes of the Syrians and the world. Meanwhile, further deterioration leading to deeper sectarianism and extremism - and eventually full-fledged civil war - will lead to regional chaos as violence spills over to neighbouring and other countries.
As the human cost mounts and the images of ugly killings spread to every home, my guess is that something's gotta give... But what?
With the Iranians (and perhaps the Russians) committed to arming Assad, and the Europeans authorising the arming of the opposition, more arms will most probably flow into the country - leading to ever worse atrocities, increasingly along sectarian lines.
This means the violence continues to take the shape of civil war by proxy, and will eventually lead to the breakup of the Syrian society and perhaps even the state, and scar the country for generations.
In other words, delaying serious attempts to bring the opposition and elements of the regime to jointly transition to a new democratic political order without Assad will mean that, in the best-case scenario, Syria's future will be constructed around sectarian divisions rather than democratic principles.
In other words, many thousands more dead and an open conflict for decades to come."
Real News Video: What Makes the American Security State Necessary?
Phyllis Bennis: Will any amount of surveillance make Americans secure when US foreign policy is based on global hegemony?
Real News Video: PM Erdogan orders end to protests in "24 hours"
Protesters are met with new wave of police brutality, as thousands of lawyers join demonstrations
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you agree with the official American justification that the spying program is meant to combat terrorism?
So far, 88% have said no.
U.N. documents 93,000 deaths in Syrian conflict
"(Reuters) - The death toll in Syria reached at least 93,000 at the end of April, but the true number from the violence now in its third year may be much higher, the United Nations human rights office said on Thursday.
An average of more than 5,000 people have been killed every month since July, while the Damascus region and Aleppo have recorded the highest tolls since November, it said in its latest study of documented deaths.
"This extremely high rate of killings, month after month, reflects the drastically deteriorating pattern of the conflict over the past year," Navi Pillay, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in a statement.
The previous U.N. figure, issued in mid-May, was that 80,000 had been killed in the conflict, which began with peaceful protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011 and turned into an armed rebellion a few months later.
The latest analysis was based on data from eight sources, including the Syrian government and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Killings were only included if the name of the victim and date and location of death were known.
"There are also well-documented cases of individual children being tortured and executed, and entire families, including babies, being massacred - which, along with this devastatingly high death toll, is a terrible reminder of just how vicious this conflict has become," Pillay said."
Al-Jazeera Video: Biggest spy data farm to open in Utah
"As the world reacts to the news that the United States has been secretly mining unprecedented amounts of global phone and email traffic, the US National Security Agency is building a place to do it bigger and better.
The secret facility will store masses of information collected through covert operations.
Al Jazeera's John Hendren has been to Salt Lake City to see it."
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Government looking at options to help Syrian opposition, Kerry says
WASHINGTON |
"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is debating what more it might do to help the Syrian opposition in its civil war against the government, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Wednesday without giving any details.
"We are determined to do everything that we can in order to help the opposition to be able ... to save Syria," Kerry told reporters at a news conference with British Foreign Secretary William Hague.
"People are talking about what further options might be exercised here ... but we don't have anything to announce at this moment."
[Let me help Secretary Kerry. The US has three objectives:
1) The annihilation of the Islamists in Syria.
2) Embroiling Hizbullah and Iran in the Syrian swamp to weaken them both and to further inflame sectarian wars.
3) The total destruction of Syria, so that it will not be in a position to stand up to Israel for the next 100 years.
So far, these objectives have been only partially achieved. We are waiting for complete and total accomplishment.]
Amnesty concerned about rise in blasphemy cases in Egypt
Egypt must end prosecutions for blasphemy and insulting religion, says Amnesty International in response to conviction of Coptic Christian for insulting Islam
Ahram Online
"Amnesty International on Tuesday expressed concern at an increase in prosecutions for blasphemy and insulting religion in Egypt.
The statement came hours after Demiana Abdel-Nour, a Coptic Christian teacher, was fined LE100,000 by a court in Upper Egypt for insulting Islam and the Prophet Muhammad during a lesson.
“Slapping criminal charges with steep fines and, in most cases, prison sentences against people for simply speaking their mind or holding different religious beliefs is simply outrageous,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
Luther went on to demand an end to such prosecutions, and the overturning of previous convictions.
Amnesty says the majority of those targeted by such accusations in Egypt are Coptic Christians.
Such charges can result in six years in prison and fines of up to LE500 ($70) under Article 98 of Egypt’s penal code.
On 1 June, Coptic Christian lawyer Romani Murad was sentenced to one year in prison and fined LE10,000 ($1,430) for allegedly insulting and mocking God and the Quran.
In September 2012, Albert Saber, a 25-year-old man from a Coptic family, was arrested for allegedly posting the controversial anti-Islam 'Innocence of Muslims' film on Facebook.
In July 2012, a Coptic Christian school teacher from Sohag, Bishoy Kamel, was sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons deemed defamatory to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook, as well as for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.
Another notable case was the referral of two Coptic children – ten-year-old Nabil Rizk and nine-year-old Mina Farag – to juvenile detention in October 2012 for allegedly tearing up a copy of the Quran. Because they were so young, however, they were later released pending further investigations.
In February 2013, the prosecutor-general ordered the arrest of controversial Islamic preacher Ahmed Abdullah Abu-Islam for allegedly insulting Christianity."
Ahram Online
Egypt's Alber Saber was sentenced last December to three years in jail for posting the anti-Islam film Innocence of Muslims on his Facebook page (Photo: Reuters)
"Amnesty International on Tuesday expressed concern at an increase in prosecutions for blasphemy and insulting religion in Egypt.
“Slapping criminal charges with steep fines and, in most cases, prison sentences against people for simply speaking their mind or holding different religious beliefs is simply outrageous,” said Philip Luther, Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Director.
Luther went on to demand an end to such prosecutions, and the overturning of previous convictions.
Amnesty says the majority of those targeted by such accusations in Egypt are Coptic Christians.
Such charges can result in six years in prison and fines of up to LE500 ($70) under Article 98 of Egypt’s penal code.
On 1 June, Coptic Christian lawyer Romani Murad was sentenced to one year in prison and fined LE10,000 ($1,430) for allegedly insulting and mocking God and the Quran.
In September 2012, Albert Saber, a 25-year-old man from a Coptic family, was arrested for allegedly posting the controversial anti-Islam 'Innocence of Muslims' film on Facebook.
In July 2012, a Coptic Christian school teacher from Sohag, Bishoy Kamel, was sentenced to six years in prison for posting cartoons deemed defamatory to Islam and the Prophet Mohammed on Facebook, as well as for insulting President Mohamed Morsi and his family.
Another notable case was the referral of two Coptic children – ten-year-old Nabil Rizk and nine-year-old Mina Farag – to juvenile detention in October 2012 for allegedly tearing up a copy of the Quran. Because they were so young, however, they were later released pending further investigations.
In February 2013, the prosecutor-general ordered the arrest of controversial Islamic preacher Ahmed Abdullah Abu-Islam for allegedly insulting Christianity."
Is Edward Snowden a Hero? A Debate With Journalist Chris Hedges & Law Scholar Geoffrey Stone
Democracy Now!
"Edward Snowden’s decision to leak a trove of secret documents outlining the NSA’s surveillance program has elicited a range of reactions. Among his detractors, he’s been called "a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison," (Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker), who’s committed "an act of treason," (Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate intelligence committee). To supporters, Snowden is a hero for showing that "our very humanity [is] being compromised by the blind implementation of machines in the name of making us safe," (author Douglas Rushkoff), one whom President Obama should "thank and offer him a job as a White House technology advisor," (American Conservative editor Scott McConnell). We host a debate with two guests: Chris Hedges, a senior fellow at the Nation Institute and former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times; and Geoffrey Stone, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Stone served as an informal advisor to President Obama in 2008, years after hiring him to teach constitutional law........"
"Edward Snowden’s decision to leak a trove of secret documents outlining the NSA’s surveillance program has elicited a range of reactions. Among his detractors, he’s been called "a grandiose narcissist who deserves to be in prison," (Jeffrey Toobin of the New Yorker), who’s committed "an act of treason," (Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate intelligence committee). To supporters, Snowden is a hero for showing that "our very humanity [is] being compromised by the blind implementation of machines in the name of making us safe," (author Douglas Rushkoff), one whom President Obama should "thank and offer him a job as a White House technology advisor," (American Conservative editor Scott McConnell). We host a debate with two guests: Chris Hedges, a senior fellow at the Nation Institute and former Pulitzer Prize-winning foreign correspondent for the New York Times; and Geoffrey Stone, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School. Stone served as an informal advisor to President Obama in 2008, years after hiring him to teach constitutional law........"
More Intrusive Than Eavesdropping? NSA Collection of Metadata Hands Gov’t Sweeping Personal Info
Democracy Now!
"As the American Civil Liberties Union sues the Obama administration over its secret NSA phone spying program, we look at how the government could use phone records to determine your friends, medical problems, business transactions and the places you’ve visited. While President Obama insists that nobody is listening to your telephone calls, cybersecurity expert Susan Landau says the metadata being collected by the government may be far more revealing than the content of the actual phone calls. A mathematician and former Sun Microsystems engineer, Landau is the author of the book "Surveillance Or Security? The Risks Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies."....."
"As the American Civil Liberties Union sues the Obama administration over its secret NSA phone spying program, we look at how the government could use phone records to determine your friends, medical problems, business transactions and the places you’ve visited. While President Obama insists that nobody is listening to your telephone calls, cybersecurity expert Susan Landau says the metadata being collected by the government may be far more revealing than the content of the actual phone calls. A mathematician and former Sun Microsystems engineer, Landau is the author of the book "Surveillance Or Security? The Risks Posed by New Wiretapping Technologies."....."
Why Egypt's New Law Regulating NGOs is Still Criminal
Heba Morayef
"On June 4, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced 43 people to prison on charges of membership in illegal organizations. It was a familiar scenario for anyone who worked on human rights under Hosni Mubarak, when activists regularly criticized the roundup of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members and their prosecution on the same charges. This time, however, the defendants were Egyptian and international staff of U.S. and German nongovernmental organizations. International law is clear on the issue: Membership in an unregistered organization should not in and of itself amount to a crime.
Yet the Egyptian presidency's latest draft of the new law governing NGOs would not prevent a repeat of the June 4 verdict. The presidency claims that the new draft law has no criminal penalties, yet this is misleading. The draft clearly states that the law's penalties would not supersede the harsher penalties inthe penal code. By this means, the draft law incorporates the vague language of the penal code criminalizing "membership in an illegal organization," allowing staff of these organizations to be charged with a crime for simply going into the office......"
"On June 4, an Egyptian criminal court sentenced 43 people to prison on charges of membership in illegal organizations. It was a familiar scenario for anyone who worked on human rights under Hosni Mubarak, when activists regularly criticized the roundup of hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood members and their prosecution on the same charges. This time, however, the defendants were Egyptian and international staff of U.S. and German nongovernmental organizations. International law is clear on the issue: Membership in an unregistered organization should not in and of itself amount to a crime.
Yet the Egyptian presidency's latest draft of the new law governing NGOs would not prevent a repeat of the June 4 verdict. The presidency claims that the new draft law has no criminal penalties, yet this is misleading. The draft clearly states that the law's penalties would not supersede the harsher penalties inthe penal code. By this means, the draft law incorporates the vague language of the penal code criminalizing "membership in an illegal organization," allowing staff of these organizations to be charged with a crime for simply going into the office......"
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Digital Blackwater: How the NSA Gives Private Contractors Control of the Surveillance State
Democracy Now!
"As the Justice Department prepares to file charges against Booz Allen Hamilton employee Edward Snowden for leaking classified documents about the National Security Agency, the role of private intelligence firms has entered the national spotlight. Despite being on the job as a contract worker inside the NSA’s Hawaii office for less than three months, Snowden claimed he had power to spy on almost anyone in the country. “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge, to even the president, if I had a personal email,” Snowden told the Guardian newspaper. Over the past decade, the U.S. intelligence community has relied increasingly on the technical expertise of private firms such as Booz Allen, SAIC, the Boeing subsidiary Narus and Northrop Grumman. About 70 percent of the national intelligence budget is now spent on the private sector. Former NSA director Michael V. Hayden has described these firms as a quote “Digital Blackwater." We speak to Tim Shorrock, author of the book "Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Outsourced Intelligence."....."
"As the Justice Department prepares to file charges against Booz Allen Hamilton employee Edward Snowden for leaking classified documents about the National Security Agency, the role of private intelligence firms has entered the national spotlight. Despite being on the job as a contract worker inside the NSA’s Hawaii office for less than three months, Snowden claimed he had power to spy on almost anyone in the country. “I, sitting at my desk, certainly had the authorities to wiretap anyone, from you or your accountant to a federal judge, to even the president, if I had a personal email,” Snowden told the Guardian newspaper. Over the past decade, the U.S. intelligence community has relied increasingly on the technical expertise of private firms such as Booz Allen, SAIC, the Boeing subsidiary Narus and Northrop Grumman. About 70 percent of the national intelligence budget is now spent on the private sector. Former NSA director Michael V. Hayden has described these firms as a quote “Digital Blackwater." We speak to Tim Shorrock, author of the book "Spies For Hire: The Secret World of Outsourced Intelligence."....."
Sectarianism and the Irrational New Discourse: Why Arabs Must Worry
A GOOD PIECE
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
"My friend Hanna is Syrian and also happens to be Christian. The latter fact was rarely of consequence, except whenever he wished to boast about the contributions of Arab Christians to Middle Eastern cultures. Of course, he is right. The modern Arab identity has been formulated through a fascinating mix of religions, sects and races.
Christianity, as well as Islam, is deeply-rooted in many aspects of Arab life. Needless to say, the bond between Islam and Christianity is simply unbreakable.
“I am Christian, but, in terms of culture, I am equally a Muslim,” he told me by way of introduction to a daunting realization. “But now, I am very worried.”
Hanna’s list of worries is long. Lead amongst them is the fact that Christian Arabs in some Arab societies are increasingly viewed as ‘foreigners’ or ‘guests’ in their own countries. At times, as was the case in Iraq, they are punished by one extremist group or another for embracing the same religion that US-western zealots claim to represent.
Churches were blown up in brutal retribution for a savage war that President George W. Bush and many of his ilk maintained to be between good and evil, using the most brazen religious references as they savaged Iraq, sparing neither Muslims nor Christians......
Despite my insistence on optimism, I find the current political discourse hateful, polarizing and unprecedentedly defeatist. While Muslim political elites are sharply divided between Shia and Sunni, assigning layers of meaning to the fact that one is born this way or that, this wrangling has been weaved into a power play that has destroyed Syria, awakened past animosities in Lebanon and revitalised existing conflict in Iraq, further devastating the very Arab identity.
Iraq’s historical dilemma, exploited by the US for immediate gains, has now become a pan-Arab dilemma. Arab and Middle Eastern media is fomenting that conflict using terminology loaded with sectarianism and obsessed with erecting the kind of divides that will bring nothing but mistrust, misery and war......"
By Ramzy Baroud
Palestine Chronicle
"My friend Hanna is Syrian and also happens to be Christian. The latter fact was rarely of consequence, except whenever he wished to boast about the contributions of Arab Christians to Middle Eastern cultures. Of course, he is right. The modern Arab identity has been formulated through a fascinating mix of religions, sects and races.
Christianity, as well as Islam, is deeply-rooted in many aspects of Arab life. Needless to say, the bond between Islam and Christianity is simply unbreakable.
“I am Christian, but, in terms of culture, I am equally a Muslim,” he told me by way of introduction to a daunting realization. “But now, I am very worried.”
Hanna’s list of worries is long. Lead amongst them is the fact that Christian Arabs in some Arab societies are increasingly viewed as ‘foreigners’ or ‘guests’ in their own countries. At times, as was the case in Iraq, they are punished by one extremist group or another for embracing the same religion that US-western zealots claim to represent.
Churches were blown up in brutal retribution for a savage war that President George W. Bush and many of his ilk maintained to be between good and evil, using the most brazen religious references as they savaged Iraq, sparing neither Muslims nor Christians......
Despite my insistence on optimism, I find the current political discourse hateful, polarizing and unprecedentedly defeatist. While Muslim political elites are sharply divided between Shia and Sunni, assigning layers of meaning to the fact that one is born this way or that, this wrangling has been weaved into a power play that has destroyed Syria, awakened past animosities in Lebanon and revitalised existing conflict in Iraq, further devastating the very Arab identity.
Iraq’s historical dilemma, exploited by the US for immediate gains, has now become a pan-Arab dilemma. Arab and Middle Eastern media is fomenting that conflict using terminology loaded with sectarianism and obsessed with erecting the kind of divides that will bring nothing but mistrust, misery and war......"
Increased police repression continues to go unchecked in Turkey
Amnesty International
"Protests in Turkey are likely to continue to escalate unless authorities engage in meaningful discussions with activists, Amnesty International said after riot police this morning once again used tear gas and water cannon against peaceful protesters in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Gezi Park.
The further police action against demonstrators contradicted statements by the Governor of Istanbul this morning that they would not intervene in the park.
Activists have been protesting against the construction of a shopping centre in Gezi Park adjacent to the square, which is one of downtown Istanbul’s last green spaces.
In a statement to media, Istanbul’s Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said the intervention in Taksim Square was being carried out to remove banners from the Atatürk statue and the Atatürk Culture Centre on the square and that the police would not intervene in Gezi Park.
“The protests in Taksim Square and Gezi Park have been entirely peaceful and have a right to continue. Intervention by the authorities should only be carried out for legitimate reasons - wanting to have a few banners taken down is, simply, not adequate justification,” said Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher at Amnesty International who is currently in Istanbul........"
"Protests in Turkey are likely to continue to escalate unless authorities engage in meaningful discussions with activists, Amnesty International said after riot police this morning once again used tear gas and water cannon against peaceful protesters in Istanbul’s Taksim Square and Gezi Park.
The further police action against demonstrators contradicted statements by the Governor of Istanbul this morning that they would not intervene in the park.
Activists have been protesting against the construction of a shopping centre in Gezi Park adjacent to the square, which is one of downtown Istanbul’s last green spaces.
In a statement to media, Istanbul’s Governor Hüseyin Avni Mutlu said the intervention in Taksim Square was being carried out to remove banners from the Atatürk statue and the Atatürk Culture Centre on the square and that the police would not intervene in Gezi Park.
“The protests in Taksim Square and Gezi Park have been entirely peaceful and have a right to continue. Intervention by the authorities should only be carried out for legitimate reasons - wanting to have a few banners taken down is, simply, not adequate justification,” said Andrew Gardner, Turkey researcher at Amnesty International who is currently in Istanbul........"
Real News Video: Former CIA Analyst: Snowden Did The Right Thing
Ray McGovern: NSA whistleblower Snowden courageous defender of liberty
Real News Video: Up to Six Mass Graves Discovered in Jaffa, with Hundreds of Victims from 1948
Sami Abuskhade: the Israeli discourse denies the very existence of the Nakba, but after decades of denial Palestinians are finally able to bring their history to light
Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef will not let his humour be silenced
Doctor turned host of popular show provides laughs for his viewers but a headache for the Muslim Brotherhood
Benjamin Barthe
Guardian Weekly,
Benjamin Barthe
Guardian Weekly,
Current Al-Jazeera (Arabic) Online Poll
Do you believe that Hizbullah is intent on causing a fire in Lebanon?
So far, 92% said yes.
Syria asks IDF to hold fire as it battles rebels
The Syrian regime asked Israel not to fire on its tanks in the Golan Heights buffer zone between the two countries during Thursday's internecine fighting in the area, according to a report apparently by the United Nations peacekeeping troops on the Golan.
The Syrian armed forces were battling opposition troops who had briefly seized control of the Syrian side of the Quneitra border crossing between Israel and Syria.American journalist Nabil Abi Saab, who regularly covers United Nations activity in his blog UN-Report, on Saturday posted a copy of a document apparently from the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF), which monitors the ceasefire between Israel and Syria following the 1973 Yom Kippur.
Saab writes in his blog that he was informed by diplomats that the document was sent to the UN Security Council on Friday, by Herve Ladsous, UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. The report states that the IDF warned UNDOF that it would "take action" if Syrian army tanks continued to operate in the buffer zone.
After receiving the message, the Syria regime asked that Israel refrain from firing on its vehicles as "the presence of the tanks was solely for the purpose of fighting the armed members of the opposition." Israel acceded to the request, but did confirm that it had given medical treatment to members of the Syria opposition wounded in the fighting."
Edward Snowden: saving us from the United Stasi of America
Snowden's whistleblowing gives us a chance to roll back what is tantamount to an 'executive coup' against the US constitution
Daniel Ellsberg
guardian.co.uk,
Pressure by an informed public on Congress to form a select committee to investigate the revelations by Snowden and, I hope, others to come might lead us to bring NSA and the rest of the intelligence community under real supervision and restraint and restore the protections of the bill of rights.
Snowden did what he did because he recognised the NSA's surveillance programs for what they are: dangerous, unconstitutional activity. This wholesale invasion of Americans' and foreign citizens' privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we're trying to protect."
Daniel Ellsberg
guardian.co.uk,
In my estimation, there has not been in American history a more important leak than Edward Snowden's release of NSA material – and that definitely includes the Pentagon Papers 40 years ago. Snowden's whistleblowing gives us the possibility to roll back a key part of what has amounted to an "executive coup" against the US constitution.
Since 9/11, there has been, at first secretly but increasingly openly, a revocation of the bill of rights for which this country fought over 200 years ago. In particular, the fourth and fifth amendments of the US constitution, which safeguard citizens from unwarranted intrusion by the government into their private lives, have been virtually suspended......Pressure by an informed public on Congress to form a select committee to investigate the revelations by Snowden and, I hope, others to come might lead us to bring NSA and the rest of the intelligence community under real supervision and restraint and restore the protections of the bill of rights.
Snowden did what he did because he recognised the NSA's surveillance programs for what they are: dangerous, unconstitutional activity. This wholesale invasion of Americans' and foreign citizens' privacy does not contribute to our security; it puts in danger the very liberties we're trying to protect."
Edward Snowden's jihad
The NSA whistleblower's battle against US surveillance fits into a modernist reading of jihad as a fight for betterment.
By Mark LeVine
Al-Jazeera
"....
A few brave men
It is highly instructive that the courage of a few brave men such as Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden have done more damage to the hegemony of the well-entrenched and normally unchallenged US war racket than any number of al-Qaeda-inspired or -directed terrorist plots could have achieved. Indeed, the fact that Snowden didn't become intoxicated by such power, but instead sought to shut it down at the source is an action of revolutionary potential, if others take up his call. It is a true inner and greater jihad.
If a couple of relatively minor intelligence workers such as Manning and Snowden could access information that upends so many of their government's policies, and the lies and half-truths upon which they're based, imagine what 20, or even 200 could do. They might actually get Americans off their couches and into the streets to demand the kind of political reform that the political class has thus far had little incentive to enact.
We don't have to call it jihad, but after a dozen years of a disastrous and bloody "war on terror" with the Muslim world, there are definitely worse ways to define it. However people want to describe it, these individuals have shown their peers in the governmental, intelligence, military and corporate bureaucracies across the world that they too have a choice - that merely continuing as cogs in oppressive machines cannot be considered the legitimate, or even only, choice left to them - even if the alternative comes at a steep price.
Let us hope at least a few are inspired to follow their course."
Monday, June 10, 2013
الأسعد لـ’القدس العربي’: السلمان شيعي ابن شيعي فهل هو ايضاً تكفيري؟
"بيروت – ‘القدس العربي’ تم في بلدة عدلون الجنوبية عصر امس تشييع رئيس الهيئة الطالبية في حزب الانتماء اللبناني هاشم السلمان الذي قتل لدى محاولة أنصار للمستشار العام للحزب احمد الأسعد التظاهر امام السفارة الايرانية احتجاجاً على قتال حزب الله في سوريا.وقال الأسعد في اتصال أجرته معه ‘القدس العربي’ إن هاشم السلمان هو ‘شهيد لبنان وهو شرارة الاعتراض مثل الشاب الذي أحرق نفسه في تونس′، منتقداً مقولة الامين العام لحزب الله بأنه يذهب الى القصير لقتال التكفيريين بقوله ‘حجة حزب الله بالذهاب الى القصير هي أنه يواجه تكفيريين قبل أن يأتوا الى لبنان، وإنما أسأل حزب الله هذا هاشم السلمان شيعي ابن شيعي وحفيد شيعي فهل هو ايضاً تكفيري؟’. وأكد ‘أن لحزب الله مشكلة مع الرأي الآخر سواء كان مسيحياً أم سنياً أم شيعياً، ونحن كانت لدينا رسالة امام السفارة الايرانية نود توجيهها الى النظام الايراني بأنك إذا أردت الدفاع عن نظام الأسد أرسل جيشك’.
وطالب الأسعد المسؤولين في لبنان ‘وفي مقدمهم رئيس الجمهورية ميشال سليمان وقائد الجيش العماد جان قهوجي وكل قادة الاجهزة الامنية المعنية، بأن يأتوا بقاتل سلمان لمحاكمته فوراً، والا فليتنحوا اذا كانت لديهم ذرة من كرامة وضمير، وليقولوا اننا نعيش تحت سلطة حزب الله، وكفاهم مراوغة’
.....
بدوره، اعتبر رئيس جبهة النضال الوطني النائب وليد جنبلاط ان ‘إن ما حصل في محيط السفارة الايرانيّة وأدّى إلى مقتل أحد المتظاهرين هو موضع شجبنا وإستنكارنا الشديد. فعدا عن الطريقة البربريّة التي حصل فيها الاعتداء من خلال إستخدام العصي والهراوات كما كان يحصل في القرون الغابرة، فإنه يطرح علامات إستفهام كبرى حول أهدافه ومراميه، إذ لا يجوز التعرّض لحرية التجمع والتعبير وإلغاء الصوت المناهض الذي يملك موقفاً لا يتفق مع موقف هذا الطرف أو ذاك’
......
واضاف جنبلاط ‘إننا نطلب أن تُستكمل التحقيقات في قضية مقتل الشاب هاشم السلمان الذي قضى بعد تعرضه للضرب من عناصر مجهولة معلومة، فإما أن تكون من الحرس الثوري الايراني أو من يدور في هذا الفلك، ومعاقبة المرتكبين، ذلك أن التساهل في قضيّة الحريّات العامة سيكون بمثابة ضربة قاضية على النظام الديمقراطي اللبناني الذي يبقى، على هشاشته، يؤمن متنفساً من الحرية والديمقراطيّة من خلال التجمعات السلميّة والتظاهرات التي ترمي لاعلاء الصوت حول قضيّة معيّنة سياسيّة أم غير سياسيّة’. وشدد على ‘ان كشف الفاعلين وهوياتهم وجنسياتهم هو من مسؤوليّة الأجهزة الرسميّة المختصة القضائيّة والعسكريّة، والرأي العام اللبناني سيكون بإنتظار معرفة الحقيقة كاملةً في هذا الملف في القريب العاجل’
.....
ثم إن هذه طبيعة ‘حزب الله’ الفعلية وهذا هو المجتمع العنفي الذي يدعو إليه، وأتوجه إلى ‘التيار الوطني الحر’ ليعرف مع من يتحالف ومن يغطي كي’ يتحمل مسؤولياته في هذا المجال’."
قيادي في حماس: حزب الله ليس صاحب قرار فيما يتعلق بوجودنا في لبنان وعلاقتنا معه “فاترة”
"غزة ـ “القدس العربي”: أكد القيادي في حركة “حماس″ ووكيل وزارة الخارجية السابق في الحكومة المقالة بغزة أحمد يوسف، أن علاقة حركته بـ “حزب الله” أصابها الكثير من الفتور، لافتاً إلى أن مشهد العلاقة في هذه المرحلة يعيش حالة من القلق والتوتر، بعد أن تورط الحزب في الصراع الدائر في سويا، ودخوله للقتال إلى جانب قوات النظام السوري، مشيراً إلى أن مشهد الدم السوري والمواطنين المدنيين السوريين الذين يقتلون برصاص “حزب الله” شيء صعب على الناس تقبله.
وفي حديث لمراسل “النشرة” في الأراضي الفلسطينية محمد فروانة، لفت يوسف إلى أن “حماس″ بحاجة إلى “إيران” و”حزب الله”، “لكن سلوك الأخير جرح هذه العلاقة التي كنا نريدها علاقة وطيدة وقوية مع الحزب”.
وأوضح يوسف أن “حزب الله” ليس صاحب قرار فيما يتعلق بوجود “حماس″ في لبنان أو عدم وجودها، بعدما تناقلت وسائل الإعلام عن تهديد “حزب الله” لحركة “حماس″ بالخروج من لبنان على خلفية قتال عناصر الحركة في مخيم اليرموك في سوريا، وهذا ما نفته الحركة مؤخراً.
وفي تقييمه لعلاقة الحركة بـ”حزب الله”، لفت يوسف إلى أن “العلاقة أصابها الكثير من الفتور، والصورة التي كان يتمتع بها “حزب الله” و “إيران” في المنطقة ككل تأثرت كثيراً خصوصاً بعد دخول “حزب الله” و”إيران” كجزء في الصراع الدائر في سوريا، وهذا شكل صدمة لكثير من الأطراف والجهات التي كانت لها علاقة فيها تقدير واحترام عالي لكل من “إيران” و”حزب الله”.
وأعرب يوسف عن اعتقاده بأن الصراع في سوريا صراع شعب يطالب بنوع من الحرية والاستقلال والديمقراطية، وتجاوز سلمي للسلطة واحترام لكرامة الانسان كما حدث في تونس و مصر وليبيا وغيرها، ولكنه رأى أن “دخول الايرانيين على هذا الخط لدعم النظام في سورية أصاب كل محبي “حزب الله” و”إيران” بالإحباط، وكل التفسيرات التي تقدمت فيها أطراف إيرانية و “حزب الله” تفسيرات غير مقبولة لغالبية الجمهور العربي والاسلامي الذي يتفهم أبعاد الثورة السورية، ومطالبها في الانعتاق بعد أن كان طوال أكثر من أربعة عقود تحت نظام بوليسي”.
وأكد يوسف أن مشهد العلاقة بين “حزب الله” وحركة “حماس″ و”إيران” يعيش حالة من القلق والتوتر في هذه المرحلة، وهذا أقل ما يمكن أن يقال في هذا الشأن.
وردا على سؤال، لفت يوسف إلى أن “حماس″ كانت بحاجة لدعم كل القوى والأطراف في المنطقة، والتي تشكل حالة من المفاصلة مع الاحتلال الإسرائيلي، وقال: “نحن كنا وما زلنا بحاجة إلى “إيران” و “حزب الله”، لكن الموقف المبدئي للحركة أن هذا السلوك جرح هذه العلاقة التي كنا نريدها أن تكون علاقة وطيدة وقوية مع الحزب، ولكن انحياز “حزب الله” للنظام ودعم بشار الأسد ودخوله عسكرياً للقتال إلى جانب الجيش السوري أثر على ذلك”.
وعما إذا كانت “حماس″ خسرت “حزب الله”، رأى أن حكما من هذا النوع مبكر، مكتفيا بالقول أن العلاقة أصبحت في أقصى درجات الفتور والاقتراب من “حزب الله” الآن ولأي حركة يحرجها أمام الشارع العربي والأمة العربية والإسلامية.
وفيما أشار إلى أنه لا يدري كيف سينتهي المشهد السوري، أعرب يوسف عن اعتقاده بأنه سيكون من الصعب عودة العلاقة و”حزب الله” متورط بكل هذه الدماء التي سالت على أرض سورية أو بقي داعما لهذا النظام، وأى أنه من الصعب أن تعود العلاقة بالشكل التي كانت عليه في السابق، وقال: “نحن مع كل التقدير لما قدمه “حزب الله” في السابق لأجل خدمة الحركة وتوفير تدريبات لعناصرها، وكل الامكانيات التي كان يقدمها “حزب الله” ويحاول أن يساعد فيها المقاومة الفلسطينية، لكن الأعمال بخواتيمهما وبالتالي إن مشهد الدم السوري والمواطنين المدنيين السوريين الذين يقتلون برصاص “حزب الله” شيء صعب على الناس تقبله”.
وردا على سؤال، أكد يوسف أن قرار الطلب من قيادة “حماس″ مغادرة بيروت يرجع للدولة اللبنانية لا لـ”حزب الله”، مؤكدا أن العلاقة وطيدة وطيبة مع الدولة، لافتا إلى أن الحزب هو أحد القوى الموجودة في لبنان لكنه ليس صاحب قرار فيما يتعلق بوجود “حماس″ في لبنان أو عدم وجودها. وجزم أن لبنان سيبقى ساحة مفتوحة للمقاومة الفلسطينية، وقال: “نحن على تواصل دائم كفلسطينيين مع اللبنانيين ونحن نعتبر أبناء حاضرة واحدة اسمها بلاد الشام، أعتقد أن لبنان يتعامل مع الفلسطيني بهذه الرؤية الأخوية ورؤية أبناء الجيرة الواحدة والوطن الواحد”
"
"You’re Being Watched": Edward Snowden Emerges as Source Behind Explosive Revelations of NSA Spying
Democracy Now!
"Former CIA employee Edward Snowden has come forward as the whistleblower behind the explosive revelations about the National Security Agency and the U.S. surveillance state. Three weeks ago the 29-year-old left his job inside the NSA’s office in Hawaii where he worked for the private intelligence firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Today he is in Hong Kong–not sure if he will ever see his home again. In a video interview with the Guardian of London, Snowden says he exposed top secret NSA surveillance programs to alert Americans of expansive government spying on innocents. "Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded," Snowden says. "And the storage capability of these systems increases every year, consistently, by orders of magnitude, to where it’s getting to the point you don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made, every friend you’ve ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer... The public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong."......"
"Former CIA employee Edward Snowden has come forward as the whistleblower behind the explosive revelations about the National Security Agency and the U.S. surveillance state. Three weeks ago the 29-year-old left his job inside the NSA’s office in Hawaii where he worked for the private intelligence firm Booz Allen Hamilton. Today he is in Hong Kong–not sure if he will ever see his home again. In a video interview with the Guardian of London, Snowden says he exposed top secret NSA surveillance programs to alert Americans of expansive government spying on innocents. "Even if you’re not doing anything wrong, you’re being watched and recorded," Snowden says. "And the storage capability of these systems increases every year, consistently, by orders of magnitude, to where it’s getting to the point you don’t have to have done anything wrong, you simply have to eventually fall under suspicion from somebody, even by a wrong call, and then they can use this system to go back in time and scrutinize every decision you’ve ever made, every friend you’ve ever discussed something with, and attack you on that basis, to sort of derive suspicion from an innocent life and paint anyone in the context of a wrongdoer... The public needs to decide whether these programs and policies are right or wrong."......"
Glenn Greenwald on How NSA Leaker Edward Snowden Helped Expose a "Massive Surveillance Apparatus
Democracy Now!
"Speaking from Hong Kong where he broke the story of Edward Snowden outing himself as the NSA whistleblower, Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald joins us to discuss Snowden’s actions and the multiple disclosures he’s revealed about government surveillance. "There is this massive surveillance apparatus being gradually constructed in the United States that already has extremely invasive capabilities to monitor and store the communications and other forms of behavior not just of tens of millions of Americans, but of hundreds of millions, probably billions of people, around the globe," Greenwald says. "It’s one thing to say that we want the U.S. government to have these capabilities. It’s another thing to allow this to be assembled without any public knowledge, without any public debate, and with no real accountability. What ultimately drove [Snowden] forward — and what ultimately is driving our reporting — is the need for a light to be shined on what this incredibly consequential [surveillance] world is all about and the impact it’s having both on our country and our planet.".........."
"Speaking from Hong Kong where he broke the story of Edward Snowden outing himself as the NSA whistleblower, Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald joins us to discuss Snowden’s actions and the multiple disclosures he’s revealed about government surveillance. "There is this massive surveillance apparatus being gradually constructed in the United States that already has extremely invasive capabilities to monitor and store the communications and other forms of behavior not just of tens of millions of Americans, but of hundreds of millions, probably billions of people, around the globe," Greenwald says. "It’s one thing to say that we want the U.S. government to have these capabilities. It’s another thing to allow this to be assembled without any public knowledge, without any public debate, and with no real accountability. What ultimately drove [Snowden] forward — and what ultimately is driving our reporting — is the need for a light to be shined on what this incredibly consequential [surveillance] world is all about and the impact it’s having both on our country and our planet.".........."
Al-Jazeera Video: ما وراء الخبر/ المواجهات بين معارضي حزب الله وأنصاره
WHY WAS THIS THUG NOT ARRESTED?
A PEACEFUL PROTESTER WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN COLD BLOOD......
AND THE KILLER'S IDENTITY IS KNOWN!
IS IT THE FEAR OF HIZBULLAH??
Real News Video: Netanyahu Says it's Anti-Semitism to Accuse Israel of War Crimes or Violating Human Rights
Shir Hever: At the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism, the Israeli military and political leadership's attacks on critics reflects Israel's isolation and the strength of the boycott campaign
Egypt’s Presidency, Judiciary Brace for Showdown Over Draft Law
By Adam Morrow and Khaled Moussa al-Omrani
"- The post-revolution struggle between Egypt’s judiciary and President Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first Islamist head of state, finally seems to be coming to a head over controversial draft legislation regulating judicial authority.
The most contentious article of the draft judicial authority law being debated by the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt’s parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) is one reducing the official retirement age for judges from 70 years to 60.
If passed, the law, tabled by the moderate-Islamist Wasat Party and endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood, would effectively force thousands of Egyptian judges into retirement.
Opponents of the draft, which include the majority of judges and much of Egypt’s secular opposition, decry the legislation as a naked power grab by the Brotherhood – the group from which Morsi hails – aimed at stocking Egyptian courts with elements loyal to the group........"
"- The post-revolution struggle between Egypt’s judiciary and President Mohammed Morsi, the country’s first Islamist head of state, finally seems to be coming to a head over controversial draft legislation regulating judicial authority.
The most contentious article of the draft judicial authority law being debated by the Shura Council (the upper house of Egypt’s parliament, currently endowed with legislative powers) is one reducing the official retirement age for judges from 70 years to 60.
If passed, the law, tabled by the moderate-Islamist Wasat Party and endorsed by the Muslim Brotherhood, would effectively force thousands of Egyptian judges into retirement.
Opponents of the draft, which include the majority of judges and much of Egypt’s secular opposition, decry the legislation as a naked power grab by the Brotherhood – the group from which Morsi hails – aimed at stocking Egyptian courts with elements loyal to the group........"
سر كشفه تقرير ألماني: الإستخبارات الأمريكية شجعت حزب إلله على مواجهة دموية مع جبهة النصرة بسوريا
BECAUSE THE ARABS WILL NEVER LEARN!
"عمان- القدس العربي: تؤطر مداخلة الدكتور أيمن الظواهري الأخيرة في الموضوع السوري القناعة بان تنظيم القاعدة يتعامل حاليا مع (فخ) تكتيكي نصب بعناية ودفع التنظيم إلى مواجهة (دموية) هذه المرة مع حزب إلله اللبناني تحت عناوين طائفية يمكنها أن تدوم طويلا.
"عمان- القدس العربي: تؤطر مداخلة الدكتور أيمن الظواهري الأخيرة في الموضوع السوري القناعة بان تنظيم القاعدة يتعامل حاليا مع (فخ) تكتيكي نصب بعناية ودفع التنظيم إلى مواجهة (دموية) هذه المرة مع حزب إلله اللبناني تحت عناوين طائفية يمكنها أن تدوم طويلا.
بعض الخبراء لديهم قناعة بأن سياسات فتح الحدود أمام الجهاديين التي إتبعت بدول مثل الأردن وتركيا ولبنان في بداية الأزمة السورية كانت تتقصد تحشيد أكبر عدد ممكن من السلفيين الجهاديين أنصار تنظيم القاعدة أو الذين يمكن أن يتحولوا إلى أنصار للتنظيم في رقعة جغرافية محددة وبمهام قتالية.
معلومة خاصة جدا حصلت عليها القدس العربي تشير إلى تقارير إستخبارية ألمانية تحديدا إستعرضت مؤخرا ما حصل في سوريا والظروف والإعتبارات التي دفعت حزب إلله للمجازفة بالدخول على خطوط المواجهة المستعرة في بلاد الشام.
التقدير الألماني يتحدث بوضوح عن (غطاء إستخباري أمريكي) منح للدول الثلات وهي تركيا والأردن ولبنان بغرض إنضاج تسهيلات للجهاديين والسلفيين عبر تمكينهم من الدخول للأراضي السورية وبكثافة.
لكن المثير أن الغطاء نفسه منح دون إعتراض لحزب إلله اللبناني حتى يتدخل في بلدة القصير ليشاهد العالم موجة عنيفة ودموية من الصراع بين المتشددين الشيعة والأصوليين السنة الذين أظهر الدكتور الظواهري بوضوح أنهم يتبعون تنظيم القاعدة عندما خاطبهم مؤخرا.
طبعا تسهيلات الدخول سمحت بوجود نحو 30 ألفا من المقاتلين الجهاديين إلى سوريا والكثير من هؤلاء من المغرب العربي ودول الخليج والأردن وبعض الدول الأوروبية , الأمر الذي تشير له الإستخبارات الألمانية وهي تلمح لعملية محكمة إنتهت بتحشيد نوعين من الكوادر في مدن الشمال والجنوب السوري هم الأفراد الفعليون في تنظيم القاعدة والأفراد الجهاديون الذين يمكن للقاعدة أن تستقطبهم بسهولة مما يفسر إعلان جبهة النصرة الولاء لتنظيم القاعدة في وقت مبكر قبل عدة أشهر.
اللافت حسب المعلومات الألمانية التي إطلعت (القدس العربي) على جزء حيوي منها أن الإدارة الأمريكية عملت من وراء الكواليس وبنشاط وخلافا للإنطباع العام على (تشجيع) حزب ألله على الدخول لساحة الحرب وبثقله المعتاد في مؤشر بدأت السلطات الأردنية مثلا تختبر كلفته وتداعياته ونتائجه المحتملة.
والهزيمة التي منيت بها جبهة النصرة في بلدة القصير بمحاذاة الشريط اللبناني مؤخرا إنتهت بتطورين الأول إنتقال الحزب لتحشيد قواته في بلدة بصرى الشام تمهيدا لدخول محافظة درعا كما اكد للقدس العربي مباشرة القيادي في الجبهة أبو عبدلله الشامي.
والتطور الثاني تخطيط الجبهة للإنتقال إلى حرب العصابات بدلا من الإحتفاظ بالأرض إستجابة للوضع التكيتكي في الميدان.
كل هذه المعطيات على الأرض تفيد بأن الإدارة الأمريكية شجعت عمليا الطرفان تنظيم القاعدة وجبهة النصرة على التواجد في ظروف (الصدام والمواجهة) داخل الأراضي السورية… على الأقل هذا ما تقولة الورقة الألمانية.
وذلك حصل على الأغلب لسبب سياسي تكتيكي يمكن توقعه فواشنطن معنية بان يتصادم الخصمان على أرض سوريا مما يضعف قدرة الطرفان, الأمر الذي سيتم التعبير عنه عبر سلسلة بيانات وإفصاحات ستصدر تباعا بإسم الظواهري لإستعراض ظروف المعركة في بلاد الشام.
"
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Real News Video: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden: 'I don't want to live in a society that does these sort of things'
Guardian's Glenn Greenwald talks to Edward Snowden, the source behind the NSA files about his motives for the biggest intelligence leak in a generation
Al-Jazeera Video: Lebanon rally supports Syrian rebels
"At least one person has been killed, and five others injured, during protests outside the Iranian Embassy in Lebanon. People were demonstrating against Hezbollah's involvement in Syrian war. The Iranian-backed group's support for Bashar al Assad is blamed for causing instability inside Lebanon. There's also support for the Syrian rebels in Lebanon. Al Jazeera's Hoda Abdel Hamid filed this report from a rally in the southern city of Sidon."
Like a Pack of Wolves Beating Up a Lone Protester at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut
The "Party of God," or Hizbullah......
It Must be the Iranian "god"!
Tfuh!
Al-Jazeera Video: احتجاجات ضد حزب الله في بيروت
"قتل شخص أمام السفارة الإيرانية في بيروت متأثرا بطلق ناري أصيب به، وجرح أربعة آخرون أثناء مواجهة بين متظاهرين رافضين لتدخل حزب الله في سوريا وبين مناصرين للحزب.
"
Al-Jazeera Video: Inside Syria - What next after the fall of Qusayr?
"We look at how the balance of power has shifted after government retakes strategic city cutting off aid to rebels. Ghida Fakhri discusses with guests: Robert Densemore, a defense and military analyst, the editor of Defence Report - an online publication about global defense and security; Aron Lund, a writer and Syria analyst; and in the studio, Saleh Mubarak, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council."
For second time, Palestinians from Syria torch Hezbollah aid
The Daily Star
"SAADNAYEL, Lebanon: Some 1,500 packages of food aid donated by Hezbollah were burned by Palestinian refugees from Syria and local residents in the Bekaa Wednesday, the second such incident in a week. Omar Halabi, the head of the Saadnayel Youth League, told The Daily Star that a truck with boxes of aid was unloaded in the morning at the offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Halabi said when the aid was distributed, the refugees noticed the labels attached to each package explaining that the aid was a gift from the “Islamic Resistance in Lebanon to our brethren, the displaced Palestinians from Syria.”
“When the refugees realized that the aid was from the same party which is killing their people in Qusair and in other places, they, with dozens of locals, took the boxes from the Palestinian Cultural Center and burned them,” Halabi said.
The DFLP is politically affiliated with the Syrian regime, and its leader, Nayef Hawatmeh, lives in Syria.
In February he was wounded after a bomb exploded in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, switched allegiances and broke off with President Bashar Assad’s government in the wake of the uprisings.
Last Thursday, Palestinian refugees from Syria set fire to humanitarian aid donated by Hezbollah in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, citing their anger over the party’s role fighting alongside the Syrian regime.
Refugees gathered in front of the camp’s Kifah School holding banners explaining their decision to destroy the aid, which the party is distributing across a number of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon."
"SAADNAYEL, Lebanon: Some 1,500 packages of food aid donated by Hezbollah were burned by Palestinian refugees from Syria and local residents in the Bekaa Wednesday, the second such incident in a week. Omar Halabi, the head of the Saadnayel Youth League, told The Daily Star that a truck with boxes of aid was unloaded in the morning at the offices of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Halabi said when the aid was distributed, the refugees noticed the labels attached to each package explaining that the aid was a gift from the “Islamic Resistance in Lebanon to our brethren, the displaced Palestinians from Syria.”
“When the refugees realized that the aid was from the same party which is killing their people in Qusair and in other places, they, with dozens of locals, took the boxes from the Palestinian Cultural Center and burned them,” Halabi said.
The DFLP is politically affiliated with the Syrian regime, and its leader, Nayef Hawatmeh, lives in Syria.
In February he was wounded after a bomb exploded in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Hamas, which governs the Gaza Strip, switched allegiances and broke off with President Bashar Assad’s government in the wake of the uprisings.
Last Thursday, Palestinian refugees from Syria set fire to humanitarian aid donated by Hezbollah in the Ain al-Hilweh refugee camp, citing their anger over the party’s role fighting alongside the Syrian regime.
Refugees gathered in front of the camp’s Kifah School holding banners explaining their decision to destroy the aid, which the party is distributing across a number of Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon."
Qusair portends great danger ahead
June 08, 2013 01:00 AM
By Rami G. Khouri
"..........The Hezbollah-Syria-Lebanon dynamic now also feeds into the newest regional problem arena: deteriorating Sunni-Shiite relations across the Middle East, including increasing incidents of outright ethnic cleansing, bombings, and intense provocations that started after President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair invaded Iraq and turned it into the first modern Arab battleground of Sunni-Shiite mutual demonization and death.
The Syria-Lebanon battlefield is now being defined by this same demon, which is dragging in regional actors. The most frightening example this week was Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti supporting the influential Islamist-televangelist Youssef Qaradawi’s call for all able-bodied Sunnis to fight Bashar Assad, Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. The dangers ahead may make Iraq look like a picnic.
As Syria and its battles rekindle old tensions and create new ones, Hezbollah reflects the dramatic and dangerous new directions in which many Middle Eastern actors navigate through crumbling edifices of Euro-manufactured statehood, battle each other for survival, and cling to older, indigenous identities of sectarianism, ethnicity, tribalism and other sub-national configurations.
One day, they will all have to manage the hard task of rebuilding credible, secure and legitimate states. But that day is down the road.
Now is the time to fight, it seems, and Qusair was only a hint of the stupidity and waste that lies ahead."
By Rami G. Khouri
| The Daily Star |
"..........The Hezbollah-Syria-Lebanon dynamic now also feeds into the newest regional problem arena: deteriorating Sunni-Shiite relations across the Middle East, including increasing incidents of outright ethnic cleansing, bombings, and intense provocations that started after President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair invaded Iraq and turned it into the first modern Arab battleground of Sunni-Shiite mutual demonization and death.
The Syria-Lebanon battlefield is now being defined by this same demon, which is dragging in regional actors. The most frightening example this week was Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti supporting the influential Islamist-televangelist Youssef Qaradawi’s call for all able-bodied Sunnis to fight Bashar Assad, Iran and Hezbollah in Syria. The dangers ahead may make Iraq look like a picnic.
As Syria and its battles rekindle old tensions and create new ones, Hezbollah reflects the dramatic and dangerous new directions in which many Middle Eastern actors navigate through crumbling edifices of Euro-manufactured statehood, battle each other for survival, and cling to older, indigenous identities of sectarianism, ethnicity, tribalism and other sub-national configurations.
One day, they will all have to manage the hard task of rebuilding credible, secure and legitimate states. But that day is down the road.
Now is the time to fight, it seems, and Qusair was only a hint of the stupidity and waste that lies ahead."
Protester killed outside Iran's Beirut embassy
"(Reuters) - A Lebanese protester was killed outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut on Sunday after gunmen from the Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia Hezbollah opened fire when anti-Hezbollah Shi'ite demonstrators approached, witnesses and officials said.
The Lebanese army deployed tanks and erected roadblocks across Beirut following the shooting, fearing a flare-up in sectarian and factional hostility. Protesters had condemned Iranian and Hezbollah backing for the Syrian president in a civil war that has been spreading across Lebanon's border.
A Reuters journalist outside the Iranian embassy saw men with handguns and dressed in black with the yellow arm-bands of Hezbollah scuffle with a group who drew up in a bus. The gunmen drew their weapons and fired. Several protesters were hit.
Lebanese security officials said a member of a Shi'ite party that opposes Hezbollah was killed and several were injured. They said the protesters had not been armed.
They named the dead man as Hashem Salman of the Intima party, led by Ahmad al-Assad whose family has been politically eclipsed within the Shi'ite community since Iran and Syria backed Hezbollah during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.
When the bus carrying the Intima group stopped outside the embassy, Hezbollah supporters, identifiable by their yellow arm-bands and black clothing, wearing pistols on their belts, attacked the vehicle with batons, smashing its windows.
The two groups scuffled in the road and the Hezbollah men drew their weapons and opened fire. Several people appeared to be hit and fell, the Reuters journalist said. Lebanon's official news agency put the number of wounded in the incident at three.
The clash between Shi'ites, one of the main religious groups in Lebanon, was relatively unusual. There has been recent fighting between Shi'ite supporters of Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunni Muslims who support the mainly Sunni rebels in Syria.
Tension between Sunnis and Shi'ites has risen in Lebanon and across the Middle East, notably in Iraq, since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Last week, Hezbollah fighters played a key role in helping troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retake the strategic town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, further inflaming Sunni anger at Hezbollah and Tehran.
Lebanese troops on Sunday strung barbed wire across roads around central Beirut and along the highway running south through suburbs that are a stronghold of Hezbollah support.
Demonstrators, including Sunnis and members of Lebanon's large Christian community as well as Shi'ites opposed to Hezbollah, had marched in the direction of the Iranian mission.
Following the shooting, streets were very quiet in central Beirut as people stayed indoors, fearing more violence."
The Lebanese army deployed tanks and erected roadblocks across Beirut following the shooting, fearing a flare-up in sectarian and factional hostility. Protesters had condemned Iranian and Hezbollah backing for the Syrian president in a civil war that has been spreading across Lebanon's border.
A Reuters journalist outside the Iranian embassy saw men with handguns and dressed in black with the yellow arm-bands of Hezbollah scuffle with a group who drew up in a bus. The gunmen drew their weapons and fired. Several protesters were hit.
Lebanese security officials said a member of a Shi'ite party that opposes Hezbollah was killed and several were injured. They said the protesters had not been armed.
They named the dead man as Hashem Salman of the Intima party, led by Ahmad al-Assad whose family has been politically eclipsed within the Shi'ite community since Iran and Syria backed Hezbollah during the Lebanese civil war in the 1980s.
When the bus carrying the Intima group stopped outside the embassy, Hezbollah supporters, identifiable by their yellow arm-bands and black clothing, wearing pistols on their belts, attacked the vehicle with batons, smashing its windows.
The two groups scuffled in the road and the Hezbollah men drew their weapons and opened fire. Several people appeared to be hit and fell, the Reuters journalist said. Lebanon's official news agency put the number of wounded in the incident at three.
The clash between Shi'ites, one of the main religious groups in Lebanon, was relatively unusual. There has been recent fighting between Shi'ite supporters of Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunni Muslims who support the mainly Sunni rebels in Syria.
Tension between Sunnis and Shi'ites has risen in Lebanon and across the Middle East, notably in Iraq, since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. Last week, Hezbollah fighters played a key role in helping troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad retake the strategic town of Qusair, near the Lebanese border, further inflaming Sunni anger at Hezbollah and Tehran.
Lebanese troops on Sunday strung barbed wire across roads around central Beirut and along the highway running south through suburbs that are a stronghold of Hezbollah support.
Demonstrators, including Sunnis and members of Lebanon's large Christian community as well as Shi'ites opposed to Hezbollah, had marched in the direction of the Iranian mission.
Following the shooting, streets were very quiet in central Beirut as people stayed indoors, fearing more violence."
Hizbullah's Thugs Beat Up Demonstrators at the Iranian Embassy in Beirut
One Demonstrator was Shot and Killed by a Hizbullah Shabih
Hezbollah supporters attacked a bus carrying anti-Hezbollah protesters near the Iranian embassy in Beirut [Reuters]
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